"We Can Have Faith In Our Judiciary" Pinky Anand, Senior SC Advocate

Pinky Anand, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India and the incumbent Additional Solicitor General of India, says that her over 35 years of journey as a lawyer was a natural progression from the need she felt to address the issues that she saw the society around her face every day. As a young child, and as a woman, these issues always perplexed her and she felt a need to be able to find solutions to them. Writing her book, Trials Of Truth, which provides an in-depth look into the criminal cases that has shocked the country, came to her as an extension of that need. As a part of the vibrant social milieu, she likes to be an active participant of social progression. The book is also very close to her heart.

“I have tried to lay out the intricacies of the justice system without delving too deep into the technicalities of law or legal jargon. I hope that I have succeeded in this endeavour. The narrative was to delve into the various cases that have impacted the society and their progression in the courts, the causa causans, the psyche of the victim and the accused. The idea behind this was to re-inculcate the faith that people have. Today, we see so much doubt in the judicial system, I have attempted to address these issues.”

PC Amazon.co.in

A doctorate from the Harvard Law School, Anand discusses famous cases like the Nirbhaya gang rape, the Nanavati murder, the Nithari killings to give us a lawyer’s perspective and an insider’s look. Well-versed with the nitty-grities of the cases discussed, what were the challenges she faced while putting this book together, did she discover something new while writing this book?

“I tried to examine how these cases affected the society, it was extremely interesting to interview various people and see their perception of whether justice was done in these matters.”

She adds, “Many of these cases run across three decades. The biggest challenges I faced was unearthing trial court records. A number of these cases did not go right up to the higher courts. Another aspect that I tried to examine was how these cases affected the society, it was extremely interesting to interview various people and see their perception of whether justice was done in these matters.”

As a lawyer, Anand has spent most of her life dealing with the technicalities of law. By now, she admits, one gets very comfortable with complexity. To write this book she had a kind of re-birth so as to make the cases come alive as they appeared to the non-lawyers and unravel them - “It was an interesting experience but it went somewhat contrary to my training as a lawyer,” she says.

The cases Anand chose to write about in the book, are the ones that have resonated with the society over the years. She did not consciously try to pick up women-centric incidents, however, “Women do seem to be the primary victims of crime.”

“We can have faith in our judiciary. There might be hiccups along the way, but I truly believe that justice is done.”

Her attempt with this book is to show that the justice system does deliver. Most of us have been in situations where we criticize the justice system for its failings. But the author has tried to examine that, in writing this book - “One thing that stood out clearly to me was that over the years and still today, we can have faith in our judiciary. There might be hiccups along the way, but I truly believe that justice is done. However, I would like to point out that one sore thumb is a delay, we need to address that.”

Also the vice president of the Bar Association of India, she feels one thing for sure - crime generates curiosity. There is always an impact that an act of crime has on society and it is natural for people to seek answers to the puzzle.

She informs, “The story behind the dry detail is often more fascinating than the act itself. Anytime we are faced with an incident of this nature, we have questions ‘why did he do it?’, ‘how did he do it?’, the story fascinates and reverberates.

I want the readers to come back and say that the book thrilled them and that social trauma has its reverberations! I want the readers to realize the purposelessness of crime and the momentariness of the deed. A number of cases involving physical assault of any degree are acts of the moment. As a final comment, I would like to say that I truly believe that justice should be uniform for all, innocents should be protected and the guilty should not go free.”

Also Read: An Excerpt: The New Wealth of Nations, Surjit S. Bhalla

Love books? Join the SheThePeople Book Club. Click Here